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Jetstar Starter Plus Fare - Plus a lot of hassle!

27 replies
tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

I am wondering if I am the only one or if others are in a similar boat.

In my experience, if I do not automatically receive the QFF points and status credits from Jetstar within 3 -5 days, it does not happen at all. In which case I need to go through the extra hassle of claiming the points and then waiting the fours weeks to be credited. This has happened probably around 40% of the time, and I am left in the dark as to whether it was something I failed to do or something from the side of JQ / QF.

But the last two times I have flown Jetstar, this process has reached a new level of annoyance.

1) I book through the Jetstar website.
2) I choose the Starter Plus fare, eligible for QFF points and status credits.
3) My (correct) QFF number is added to the booking.
4) I fly the flight.
5) The QFF benefits are not credited within the 3 - 5 days. So far, unfortunately as expected.

Now the twist.
6) I submit a claim through QF website. It suggests a 4 week response time.
7) After the four weeks, I am told via the website, that it was a Reward Booking and not an eligible fare.

Wed 18 Jul 2018 JQ 561 CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD/ECONOMY REWARD 07-JUN-2018 BRISBANE/MELBOURNE -
Sun 23 Sep 2018 JQ 561 CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD/ECONOMY REWARD 23-AUG-2018 BRISBANE/MELBOURNE -
 
This is patently not the case, I have the Tax Invoices (1 attached) to show I paid the bundle and indicating baggage and QFFP on my boarding pass, as well as BA 25 (Baggage 25 Kg) on one boarding pass and BA20 on the other. I also received a food voucher on both flights.

From their website,
  • Qantas Points and Status Credits
    • Starter Fare with Plus Bundle passengers are eligible to earn Qantas Points and Status Credits, subject to the Qantas Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions.
    • Qantas Points and Status Credits are earned at the Qantas Economy Rate.


After the first time, I rang the Jetstar Service Centre and was told it was Qantas' program and would need to contact them. Cheers!

I have requested that Qantas look into the matter, rather than merely resolve the issue. As an aside I took a couple of flights with SAS and Swissair and did not receive points through SQ Krisflyer at all, so this is definitely not Qantas bashing. I really want to understand how I can avoid the hassle in future.
Chris C.

Chris C.

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Chris C.

Member since 24 Apr 2012

Total posts 1,116

Attachment removed as it contained personal booking information (including booking reference that wasn’t redacted).
Last editedby Chris C. at Sep 26, 2018, 09:05 AM.
mannej

mannej

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mannej

QF

Member since 21 May 2014

Total posts 176

If you search through the forums like Australian Frequent Flyer and Flyer Talk, points and SC's from JQ flights are taking anywhere up to 8 weeks or so to credit to QFF. I am not sure there is anything that can be done from the consumer's point of view which is annoying, however you do have the option of the Airline Consumer Advocate if these points and SC's fail to materialise.

Grannular

Grannular

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Grannular

Member since 31 Mar 2014

Total posts 284

I don't mean to be THAT person, but if you are having such problems, stop flying Jetstar. After all the add-on's, I am sure the fare difference isn't too large to Qantas. You are flying a route heavily serviced by Qantas, so there is no excuse that they don't service the route.

Once you take into account all your lost time chasing up the points, I would think you are actually costing yourself more by flying Jetstar.

brinkers

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brinkers

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 16 Jun 2011

Total posts 233

Was this by any chance a Club Jetstar fare? They seem to have been going through as rewards fares for some reason.

ACM

ACM

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ACM

Member since 05 Sep 2017

Total posts 32

I don't mean to be THAT person, but if you are having such problems, stop flying Jetstar. After all the add-on's, I am sure the fare difference isn't too large to Qantas. You are flying a route heavily serviced by Qantas, so there is no excuse that they don't service the route.
Once you take into account all your lost time chasing up the points, I would think you are actually costing yourself more by flying Jetstar.

Agree entirely! My last JQ (Australia) flight was Nov 16, I used to think that the Max Fare was a good cost-effective way to get flexi-fare QF status credits. It got to the stage where chasing the credits and points outweighed the benefits. Interestingly I've never had a problem with JQ (NZ).

Flying Gnome

Flying Gnome

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Flying Gnome

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 15 Jan 2015

Total posts 11

I flew JQ in August SYD to ADL first time only because time suited. Flew SYD to MEL this month points from QF next day nothing from JQ as yet, once 6 weeks are up will put in a claim in.

tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

If you search through the forums like Australian Frequent Flyer and Flyer Talk, points and SC's from JQ flights are taking anywhere up to 8 weeks or so to credit to QFF. I am not sure there is anything that can be done from the consumer's point of view which is annoying, however you do have the option of the Airline Consumer Advocate if these points and SC's fail to materialise.

Thanks 8 weeks is really unnecessary. As I understand it, it just requires a batch file to be sent periodically from JQ. I have never been prepared to wait more than about two weeks before submitting a claim.

tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

I don't mean to be THAT person, but if you are having such problems, stop flying Jetstar. After all the add-on's, I am sure the fare difference isn't too large to Qantas. You are flying a route heavily serviced by Qantas, so there is no excuse that they don't service the route.
Once you take into account all your lost time chasing up the points, I would think you are actually costing yourself more by flying Jetstar.
Yes, The thought did occur to me when writing the post. The fare difference can be considerable, at short notice, $100 - $150 between QF and JQ.
I eat in the Qantas club so I am not missing out in onboard food, in either case. The cost in chasing points is something I am mindful of, and are really only concerned about SC at this stage.

tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

Was this by any chance a Club Jetstar fare? They seem to have been going through as rewards fares for some reason.

That's an interesting point. I joined Club Jetstar during the first booking. If Bundles through Club Jetstar don't accrue points and SC, they are keeping that very quiet, bordering on deception.

tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

I flew JQ in August SYD to ADL first time only because time suited. Flew SYD to MEL this month points from QF next day nothing from JQ as yet, once 6 weeks are up will put in a claim in.

With I.T. as it is, it should not take more than about one week. This is not somebody flicking through boarding pass stubs and entering it in by hand. The longest I normally expect is a Qantas partner airline, say MH or QR which can take up to a week. Again, in my experience, it's one week or it won't happen at all.

tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

If you look at your QF account, I think you might find for domestic flights, the points are credited by the time you have landed.
International seems to take up to 24 hours.
tanholm

tanholm

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tanholm

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 24 Sep 2018

Total posts 15

This is my first post and I appreciate your comments and opinions.
By the way, regarding Attachment removed as it contained personal booking information (including booking reference that wasn’t redacted). I did not remove all of the Booking Reference number but the last half to demonstrate that they matched. I presumed that would have sufficed.
Chris C.

Chris C.

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Chris C.

Member since 24 Apr 2012

Total posts 1,116

By the way, regarding Attachment removed as it contained personal booking information (including booking reference that wasn’t redacted).

I did not remove all of the Booking Reference number but the last half to demonstrate that they matched. I presumed that would have sufficed.

Hi tanholm, here you can certainly discuss issues you're experiencing with other readers and ask for their advice, but there's no need to 'demonstrate' that what you're saying matches up (that's something you'd only need to do with the airline when lodging a complaint to substantiate that complaint, which would be done via a different channel).

When we notice (or when it's reported to us) that a reader has shared potentially sensitive information like contact details, frequent flyer numbers, machine-readable barcodes or booking references in whole or in part, intentionally or inadvertently, we simply remove it and move on to the next task.

mrc82

mrc82

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mrc82

Member since 04 May 2014

Total posts 23

I've had similar experiences with the multiple flights this year. The QFF service centre have also been fairly difficult. After the outbound flight for a return trip posted as an 'award flight' I emailed the boarding passes and itinerary that showed the Plus bundles. They then credited the points correctly for the outbound flight, but said for the return flight that they would have to wait until the missing points claim came back from Jetstar with the incorrect number of points and then I would have to call again to request that they reopen the service request.

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